Carol taped Fenway's 100th Birthday bash for me. She watched it live and raved about it. Tears. Two others told me the same thing.
Carol and I watched it Saturday night.
Glorious magnificence.
The Field of Dreams thing was brilliant. History walking out of the centerfield wall, materializing onto that beautiful field with no accompanying commentary. Names were not announced and that made it so more dramatic. They were up on the video screen but I find it hard to believe they kept up with them all. Some came out individually, many in groups.
Jim Rice kicked it off, the first one out, walking alone. I don't know how they arrived at that decision or if there was even a thought process involved, but it was cool. He just walked out and the procession began.
I was struck by how many faces I did not recognize. I felt guilty about it. Because of the drama of the moment I felt like I should recognize every single face. But of course I am not a bleeding fan, and I am willing to bet even Red Sox bleeders could not recognize every face.
I was also surprised at how strongly I reacted to certain players. Yaz, Longborg, Remy, Vaughn, Rico, Malzone, Spaceman, El Tiante, Eck, Pedro, Millar and many more. And Tito. Apparently I have bled a little over the years.
They congregated on the field as the procession continued and there were hugs and laughter and hand shakes. Players who hadn't seen each other in years but shared a special bond.
What an elite group. One out of 36 trillion human beings make it to the big leagues. Those athletes are supreme beings; talented, hard working and fortunate. Playing for the Red Sox makes it an even more elite group. Because The Boston Red Sox has an aura, a history, a feel, a legacy that no other team has. There were over two hundred former players and personnel on that field and that was one magical crowd.
As far as the aura goes. Rice summed it up in one comment in the post event dissection. He talked about "Fenway Park. Not stadium. Ballpark." I loved that. The Sox have managed to keep that ballpark feel. It is a beautiful, a sweet, a magical place.
Every human being should be recognized and celebrated in that way. Just for living a life. Making it through 75 years, through youth and innocence, through marriage and children, through careers, through jobs, through money and no money, through joyful exuberance and bitter defeat.
The logistics of coordinating 7 billion tribute celebrations might become somewhat overwhelming. Besides that, life doesn't work that way. You live, you try, you die. And you don't get 34,000 cheering your life.
So you fix your favorite drink, you sit back and you watch two hundred athletes standing in brilliant sunshine in Fenway getting a loving thank you from the handful of fans who can still afford to go there.
And you dig it.
When Tek and Wake wheeled Doerr and Pesky out to second base in their wheel chairs, I fell on the floor and swam around the living room in my tears. The most recent Sox retirees helping probably the oldest retirees onto the field for one more time. Absolutely lyrical.
It was a cool touch to have the current Red Sox players join the former players on the field.
Eck is the man. Because he is honest, he is emotional and he speaks from the heart. And he does it armed with experience and knowledge. Formidable.
He talked about what a good thing it is for current players to be involved in a ceremony like that. Because when you are a player "it's all about you." You are so wrapped up in your career, and worrying about it, obsessing about it, that you forget how magical it is to be a big league player. And it's gone in a heartbeat.
You participate in Fenway's 100th and it slaps you in the face what it's all about. The history that you are a part of, the camaraderie you share with your fellow athletes. The reverence and appreciation of the fans. Your place in this very select world.
He also summed up Fenway's beauty in typical Eckersley style. Wrigley Field is often compared to Fenway for charm and history. Eck:"Wrigley Field can't hold Fenway's jock."
I love that man.
We do things right in Boston. The duck boats, man. That's a perfect example.
And the 100th.
It was beautifully done and a fitting tribute to a sports cathedral and the players who are and have been and will be worshipped there.
Dig it, baby.
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